Rising
by Hymntanra
Summary: One-shot story, Freud takes Phantom on a short dragon riding excursion with Afrien and his mate. Implied PxF, but not really.


"She's a lovely one, isn't she."

Freud chuckled slightly at the comment, running gloved hands down the snout of the female Onyx Dragon sitting in front of him. Unlike the males, she did not possess the heavy solid ridges of bone above her eyes. Rather the forehead curved upwards in a smooth slope across golden eyes. Her beak was also slightly thinner, with less scaly bone poking out from the edges. The thick wings and golden-black scale plates stayed the same, however, as did the more bulky stature of her body frame (despite being of a slightly smaller size). The beast leaned gently into the touch with a purr, but jerked away when Phantom reached out to touch her. Freud laughed gently.

"Be careful there. This is Rytabi. She's a young lady Onyx Dragon who might be hanging around here for a while now." Freud smiled, scratching under the female's neck. "Rytabi is the selected mate for Afrien—it's become more necessary to preserve the Onyx Dragons, as war is being waged on them. And the blood of the king is priority."

"Hmm…Rytabi, huh? She is a beaut, though." Phantom commented with a nod. Rytabi jerked her head to the side a bit in inquiry. Freud shook his head.

"Rytabi doesn't understand English. Not all of the Onyx Dragons do. It's not their native tongue, after all." Freud ran his hand across her snout slowly. "But, ah, she's actually very friendly. Just a tad bit shy because she's not used to…well, creatures like us. To my knowledge and Afrien's, I'm the only person who goes into the Valley of the Dragons."

"Hmm…so I should just stay my distance?"

"I never said that." Freud laughed, taking the white gloved hand in his and laying it on Rytabi's snout. She didn't as much as twitch this time, just stared back at him with wide gold eyes. "Because Afrien trusts me, his people trust me. And if I trust you to guide you to touch her, she will trust you. It's in her blood to obey the trust of her king."

"Wow. You're going to hook up with the king of your species, little lady?" Phantom said, smile speaking of a slight sadness. Rytabi's eyes changed to a look of confusion and Freud laid his hand back on Phantom's with a reassuring smile.

"Would you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Would you like to ride Rytabi?" Freud asked, seeming completely serious. Phantom stared at the brunette for a moment, then switched his gaze back to the dragon, then back to Freud. Then he let out a nervous laugh, as if asking the man if he was serious. Dragon riding was Freud's deal, not the deal of a thief. But the other man seemed one hundred percent serious, and Freud was a bit difficult to say no to.

"Eh…I…well, I don't know about that sort of thing."

"Never hurts to try." Freud said. His face had lit up like Christmas had come early; he obviously wanted to share the dragon riding experience with his friend. Phantom glanced over at Rytabi, who was lying back on the ground and staring at him intently. The black creature did seem very calm, and she seemed very interested in the blonde thief. In fact, she was slowly inching back towards him with curiosity in her golden eyes.

"…Well…I guess I might as well…"

"Fantastic." Freud hurried around him, rustling through a basket near the side of meadow. Looking around, Phantom realized that Freud must have been planning on making SOMEONE do this; the meadow was a perfect location for a take-off. With a sigh, the thief took off the strange hat he wore and sat it on the ground. He didn't want to lose it. When he looked up, Freud was fastening a saddle and harnesses onto Rytabi's back. The black dragon waited patiently, eyes never leaving the blonde thief's face. When Freud let her go, the beast obediently glided over to sit by the thief.

"How does she know…?" Phantom inquired. Freud jerked his head in the direction of the dragon across the meadow. Afrien was watching them all carefully with one open eye. "Oh, I see…then Afrien…"

"She is sworn to trust those who are trusted by her king." Freud emphasized again, placing his hands together by Rytabi's side. Phantom hefted himself onto the dragon's back from the boosting hands. He could feel leather straps being clasped around his legs; the thief himself wrapped one strap around his waist to keep him in place. The man sincerely couldn't believe he was actually doing this. Freud had a magical way of convincing people to do the most insane things…

"Alright." Freud was reaching up by the collar around Rytabi's neck, but his arms were barely able to make it. Rytabi wasn't as big as Afrien but she was certainly hefty. "These right here are the reins. Hold them tight. Rytabi will probably take the majority of control, but if you want to take control of the flight then you can try. I wouldn't suggest it on the first flight, though. I'll be following behind you on Afrien in case she loses control, but I doubt that will happen. Don't worry about a thing."

"Hey, me? Worry? Don't make me lau—" Phantom's sentence was cut off when Rytabi started out a rapid run that shoved wind right into his throat. To his irritation, the thief could hear Freud laughing a bit behind them. But he didn't have time to turn and respond—Rytabi had erupted into the air with her wings spread wide. It was hard to breath with how fast she was going; it was even harder to hear. Phantom could barely hear the sound of Afrien's powerful wings following him and Rytabi.

He cringed as they powered into a group of clouds, passing above them. Then, finally, the beast leveled out and pulled back to glide next to Afrien and Freud. The brunette gave Phantom an expectant look and the blonde thief didn't reply. He was too busy looking down at the ever-moving clouds as the light wind beat against them. Usually smarmy purple eyes were now filled with curiosity and wonder. Phantom had flown on the Lumiere all the time, but this was nothing like it. This was like he himself was flying, no technology and mechanics required. No gigantic add-on. Just the sky and him.

"How do you like it?" Freud asked slowly, waving his hand to catch Phantom's attention. The blonde paid him no attention as his hands loosened on the reins. "Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were yo—"

Rytabi took that moment to divebomb down through the clouds. Afrien growled and followed the female quickly; Phantom himself was left with his hands flailing to meet the reins. They finally caught the leather straps and he managed to pull up right after they emerged from the clouds. The patterns of thick trees looks absolutely miniscule from this high up—in the far distance, Phantom could see the settlement that the two Heroes had travelled from. With a grin, he wondered how the other three would react if he landed in the middle of the settlement riding Rytabi. He decided they'd probably be mad as hell.

"Are we going to head back, though?" Phantom shouted back to Freud.

"Yes, yes! Land at the settlement. I brought all the supplies with me on Afrien's back. Just go ahead and land on that strip outside of the left camp." Freud yelled back. Phantom was surprised at his answer, but obeyed. He figured it would be stupid to not listen what the dragon rider had to say while riding around on Rytabi. Lifting the reins slightly, he patted the thick black head as Rytabi rushed down for a landing. She stumbled a bit, but made the land. Freud followed smoothly behind, jumping off before Afrien even landed.

"How was it?" He immediately asked the thief. Freud's eyes were filled with an uncharacteristic glee.

"Scary as hell." Phantom admitted; he was not afraid of admitting that to Freud. The brunette was not one to judge. "But…a hell of a lot of fun, I admit. I don't think I'll be riding a dragon any time soon though."

"Rytabi's a good girl." Freud patted the dragon on the nose and Rytabi cooed slightly, pushing past him to seat herself next to Afrien. "I think she likes you, though. Afrien might not now, though…"

"What'd I do, Afrien?" Phantom asked, feigning hurt. Afrien grimaced.

"Rytabi is already with egg, you fool." He growled.

"And as I told you, the egg will be fine if Rytabi flies. You know as well as I that her underbelly is extra thick to provide protection for such matters." Freud dismissed. "Rytabi is strong, isn't she?"

"Yes." Afrien said halfheartedly. He was obviously still worried about his mate and his future offspring. Freud smiled slyly and turned back to Phantom. "You two should get back to camp. I must care for Rytabi right now."

"Fine, fine." Freud laughed.

"Though I must say…" Phantom said as he was pushed off. He was smiling anyhow. "She flies well. Maybe again some time, old girl?"

Rytabi looked back at him with no understanding in her eyes. Afrien nudged her a bit; shaking her snout a bit, she opened her mouth to cough a bit.

"Ya." She said, word almost indiscernible through what Phantom assumed was an accent. "Ya. Fly."

It was all she could manage in English, but Phantom understood. With a smarmy salute, he headed off—it had at least been nice to see that Afrien's mate was a pleasant lady who liked the thief. Afrien himself was never too fond of him, but Phantom supposed one out of two Onyx Dragons wasn't too bad. And Freud seemed happy about the whole ordeal, judging from the expression he wore as he shoved Phantom back into camp.

And really, that was all that mattered.


End file.
